Saturday, 25 March 2017, began mostly cloudy but cleared by mid-day. However, the sky became overcast late in the afternoon along with strong winds. Sunday, 26 March, I woke up early and the sky had cleared. As Sky & Telescope had reported that supernova 2017cbv in the galaxy NGC5643 had risen to magnitude +11.5 I went to the observatory to try to image it.

Open: Sunday, 26 March 2017, 0154 MST Temperature: 53°F

Session: 1091 Conditions: Clear

Equipment Used:
12" f/8 LX600 w/StarLock
2" 24mm UWA eyepiece

Camera:
D7200 DSLR

0201 MST: LX600 ON, StarLock OFF, High Precision OFF.

First, I viewed Jupiter, 102X. Four moons were visible.

SYNCed the AutoStar on the star Spica. Then slewed to the galaxy NGC5643, very low in the southern sky. I believe that I saw supernova 2017cbv, but due to observing through a lot of muck low in the sky I could not be completely certain of the observation. The galaxy was faintly visible.

Then prepared the D7200 DSLR for imaging. Mounted the DSLR at prime focus + focal reducer, focused on the star Spica using the Bahtinov Mask, and locked the primary mirror.

0220 MST: slewed to NGC5643. StarLock ON. Autoguiding was surprising good for such a low elevation object. This is an autoguided 5 minutes, ISO 6400, White Balance 3570K image:

NGC5643 Supernova 2017cbv

Mouseover or tap on image for label

Since part of the constellation of Centaurus was visible I decided to image the globular cluster Omega Centauri and the galaxy Centaurus A, both very low in the southern sky. Omega Centauri is an autoguided 1 minute, ISO 1600, WB 3570K exposure and Centaurus A is an autoguided 5 minutes, ISO 6400, WB 3570K exposure.

Omega Centauri


Centaurus A

0254 MST: ended imaging. StarLock OFF.

I used the 12x50 binoculars to view Jupiter (three moons visible), Omega Centauri globular cluster, Saturn (ring barely visible), and some sights along the Milky Way.

Next, I used the 12" telescope to view Centaurus A (galaxy) and then Omega Centauri (globular cluster), 102X. The last object viewed was Saturn, 102X. It was too low in the southeastern sky, but I was able to see Cassini Division, some cloud bands, and four moons.

I then began closing up. 0310 MST: LX600 OFF.

Close: Sunday, 26 March 2017, 0321 MST Temperature: 50°F

Session Length: 1h 27m Conditions: Clear

As I was leaving the observatory I saw a very bright meteor in the northern sky heading towards the constellation of Cassiopeia. It was brighter than Jupiter.

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